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Author: David Vertsberger

David Vertsberger considers himself a precocious neophyte, writing for ESPN TrueHoop site HawksHoop as well as Hickory-High. A member of the younger generation of Knickerbocker fans, his fondest memories of years past have been the trade for Larry Hughes and Nate Robinson scoring 41 following a month-long benching.

Before we get to tonight’s game, because these are the Knicks, another internal struggle has seeped through the crevices of Madison Square Garden into the eyes and ears of the public. As you’re probably all aware, recent talks between the Knicks and Toronto Raptors have been confirmed by members of the media, revolving the trading for one Kyle Lowry. In return, it’s been reported that Toronto would receive Raymond Felton, Metta World Peace and one of three assets from the Knicks: A first round pick, Iman Shumpert or Tim Hardaway Jr. In an unlikely turn of events, both Frank Isola …continue reading

The Knicks, who lost their third straight to the worst defensive team in the NBA last night, will be facing off against the league’s best — and the team that knocked them out of last year’s postseason — when the Indiana Pacers roll into town tonight. In anticipation of this match-up, I asked Pacers-loyal, outstanding statistician and writer Ian Levy about Indiana’s team this season and the approaching matchup. Ian runs the NBA site Hickory High, and you can find his writing at Bleacher Report, Hardwood Paroxysm, Indy Cornrows and HoopChalk. Can you give an outside perspective on the Knicks …continue reading

Tyson Chandler’s injury was a major blow to the Knicks. That’s to be expected when your team’s best defender, rebounder and most consistent player goes down. But Chandler’s absence has a more far-reaching effect than the team merely missing his presence — certain players on the roster are heavily reliant on his game. One such player is Raymond Felton, who with Tyson Chandler out shouldn’t be in the starting lineup and shouldn’t be playing starter’s minutes. Here’s why I think so. Felton’s a skilled player, without a doubt. However, his single greatest contribution to this team — one that no …continue reading

As an experiment, let’s cleft the NBA universe in twain and divide the world of pro hoops into two kinds of teams: singular ones, and dynamic ones. Singular teams have a specific identify and style of play. They’re good at what they do, even if what they do is relatively inflexible. One example might be the Memphis Grizzles: punishing, slow-it-down, grind-it-out. You can beat them if you get them to deviate from their preferred style of play, but on most nights… good luck with that. A dynamic squad would be a team like the Spurs. They can go up-tempo, or …continue reading

The Andrea Bargnani trade was at the center of the Knicks’ offseason hoopla, dividing the fan base into two armies at war. Basically, like any other Knicks transaction outside the Chris Smith signing. With the 2013-14 NBA season upon us, it’s no longer worth our time to debate the ins and outs of the deal itself. Bargs is here and Mike Woodson and crew have turned to figuring out how to best implement him as the season grinds on. The team’s seven exhibition games might not be the best wellspring for basketball analysis, but — save for last night’s not …continue reading